The adepts are involved in a certain conversation whose theme is authenticity,its recognition, its realization and its preservation. The Noble Ones are thosewho fully realize what is authentically required to reach an initial level ofAwakening. They do this through a kind of personal dialog between what theyhave been taught, on the one hand, and what they have experienced directlythrough practice, on the other. This is the conversation of ehipassiko, betweencome and see. The monastics, if their aspirations are sincere, are ideally ofperfect Refuge; they are willing to come but might not yet see; they therebyturn readily away from folk influences and toward the influence of the Dharma(or rather Dharma-Vinaya) and of the Noble Ones, to fully engage in theconversation of authenticity. However, any layperson can make the samecommitment, to be of perfect Refuge and thereby to become part of the conversation of the adepts. It is simply a matter of choosing one’s influences.
There has been, since the beginning, a degree of specialization among theadepts, particularly between come and see. Some have chosen to be purelyscholars of the Dharma to the neglect of practice, while others have chosen toemphasize practice. (In Theravada Buddhism this is recognized in thedistinction between pariyatti and patipatti monks, respectively.) The mostcomplete outlook balances the two, for teachings guide practice even as theexperience of practice serves as a corrective of one’s understanding of theteachings. Often new ways of teaching emerge from the reconciliation ofteaching and experience, faults are corrected and innovations are introduced. Ifa tradition produces Noble Ones, its scriptures and scholarship cannot stray toofar away from an authentic Buddhism. With that many people seeing, maps totheir vantage points will be preserved, or will reemerge, so that others mightcome.
Scholarship has always been an important part of the adept conversation andhas taken many forms, from memorization of scriptures, to exegesis, to debate.Almost any Adept Buddhist tradition will regard some textual corpus asauthoritative, but generally each a different one. Modern scholarship has takenon new roles, including textual analysis to determine the actual ages of texts orof specific passages, comparative analysis to reconstruct the history of texts,and reconstruction of ancient cultural contexts as a way of gaining insight intoobscure meanings. Many texts that have been attributed directly to the Buddhafor centuries are revealed to be of more recent origin, and many traditionalaccounts of the history of the various Buddhist schools have been discredited.These trends frame scriptural corpora in new and insightful ways.
We should not be dismayed when the adepts argue among themselves. First,this is a common symptom of corrective pressure, as one way of teaching or ofunderstanding is revealed as inadequate. Second, adepts of different schools,of different historical and cultural lines of development, with radicallydivergent conceptualizations of still authentic teachings, today commonly findthemselves in conversation with each other. A similar thing happens whenacademics of different research fields get together to talk about what should bea common interest, for instance, when philosophers, linguists, psychologistsand computer scientists talk with one another about language. Third,philosophical speculation has always had an allure in Buddhism that theBuddha scrupulously resisted. As a result much debate among the adepts ismuch ado about nothing. In the end, where Noble Ones arise, we can assumethat authentic Buddhism is being practiced and understood.
Buddha Purnima Kannada Dhamma Talk. By Venerable.Ananda Bhante
Maha Bodhi Society Bengaluru
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Buddha Purnima Kannada Dhamma Talk. By Venerable.Ananda Bhante